


oh boy.

by ansutazu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, mmmm guess the red velvet song now i'm (yelling.png)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 20:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11928801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ansutazu/pseuds/ansutazu
Summary: a family can be two idiots and their dogs. // keichi one-shot.





	oh boy.

**Author's Note:**

> if you don't follow my twitter you may not know this but i love keichi and dogs and i love keichi and dogs and i love keichi and dogs and i love keichi and dogs and

With great dogs come great responsibilities, all of which are duties a dog owner must dutifully carry out to ensure that the bond between man and man’s best friend would never be severed by negligence’s harsh blade — and they were just the little things, petite little tasks that would make a dog’s day, something that keeps them wagging their tail and tongue lolling out for the next thrill like the curious yet endearing creatures that they are.

There was taking a dog on a walk, there was giving them a toy to play with and excite their whims, there was the absolute joy of getting food — all of which were obligations that not only bring joy to the dogs in question, but to the owner as well, for how could one resist such a wonderfully pleased face that looks up once the meter for their joy had been filled to the brim, eyes just overflowing with known happiness? It was dangerous for the heart, it was vital for the heart to see such a thing! It was a mutual relationship with dogs, something constructed with care and appreciation, something completely precious once one has obtained it with their companion.

And that was certainly the case for their two dogs, who romped about the home with their tongues sticking out and panting as each paw pitter-patters down the halls, across the kitchen, into the living room, where a small sniff is given by the bigger dog as he sticks his nose to the hand stretched out, and Eichi laughs.

“Oh my…Ferdinand, you’ve gotten pretty dirty, haven’t you? And Princess, too.” A smaller dog (a lavish little Chow Chow that has a pink bandana wrapped around her neck, bless her soul) jumps onto the couch once her name is called, a small bark given as she crawls into Eichi’s lap, poofs of fur shakinga bit before she finally settles down. Ferdinand, a Shiba Inu too afraid to jump up and ruffle up the calm that overcame the household, remains with his face caressed by Eichi’s free hand, and the mud they’d tracked into the house is ignored by two dogs being petted by the blonde in a rhythmic and practiced manner, tails wagging and thudding on the floor when Eichi smiles.

“Did you walk through some grass and sprinklers today? He’s gotten quite careless when he takes you on walks, huh. That guy” —Princess’ ears perk up at the snide remark, and Eichi laughs momentarily — “really needs to be taught to hold the leash tightly. But I know he’s just afraid it might hurt you…you’d think he’d have a certain route to walk, but when it comes to you two, he’s pretty carefree, isn’t he? Or rather, he just gets really ‘soft’ — but if I say something like that, he’d come storming in, cover your ears, and then lecture to no end! Aww, I know, Ferdinand — why won’t he just admit it? It’s not even a bad thing to be happy…in fact, it’s kind of cute. Ah, but with that, too, I don’t think Keito would enjoy hearing it.”

And as if on cue, the man in question walks in, follows the trails of muddy paw prints to the living room where the blonde looked up at his direction and smiled, head tilting slightly to the side as he presents the entire scene tohis partner. “Speak of the ‘devil’ — Keito, so you’ve found your way back? Oh, and you have their leashes. So they’ve escaped your grasp while on a walk. I must say it was quite a surprise to hear them barking at the door without you in sight, but we got to spend some quality time together. Look, Ferdinand’s wagging his tail feverishly. Isn’t it cute?”

“Quit your babbling and act rational for a second, will you?” Keito approaches the dogs, getting ready in case one of them makes a quick escape (because it plenty obvious that they had to do _something_ , and that they can’t just leave two dirty dogs to remain that way). “So maybe they _did_ escape…nonetheless, you can clearly see that they’re dirty, so what’d you let Princess on the couch for, and why’d you let Ferdinand accumulate all this dirt on the carpet I cleaned _two days ago_? You’re really careless, Eichi — incorrigible, even! Taking care of our dogs means taking care of our home, too, since we live in the same space. They go hand in hand, and this isn’t exactly abiding to such rules. Ferdinand and Princess need to be cleaned, as well as the stuff they got their paws on.”

Keito shakes his head as Eichi continues patting the dogs, sighing as he runs a hand through his head. “In any case, it’ll be easier if you help, so let’s do it together.”

“Oh? That’s kind of gay, Keito.”

“I meant giving the dogs a bath, Eichi.” Though he tries to remain unfazed, there’s so obviously a hint of embarrassment that crosses his face before he moves his hands to his hips this time, assessing the situation at hand. “Come on, let’s take them to the bathroom — and don’t argue with me, will you? The faster we do this, then it won’t take up so much time, and we can get to doing other stuff before the day ends.”

Eichi’s smile does not falter from its teasing form, and he winks. “Fufu, what do you mean by that? Well, actually — I’d rather leave that up to surprise.”

“Just get the dog, asshole.”

“Hmm…since I already have Princess, I’ll take her to the bathroom and get the bath ready.” He scoops the young dog into his arms, whisking her away with graceful steps only Eichi could accomplish in such a domestic setting, but as he leaves, he gives Keito some momentary parting words (and with a tone that pokes fun at Keito, just for kicks), he says, “Good luck with Ferdinand.”

There’s slight moment of silence that washes over the remaining two, but the sound of the shower turning on breaks whatever tension that had settled into the atmosphere, and Keito’s hands are slowly stretched towards the remaining dog, who looks up at him and tilts his head in curiosity, though with the sound of rushing water, one could only guess what his fate would be.

No words were spoken — only Keito lunging forward as gently as possible in hopes of catching the dog, but Ferdinand dodges it by swiftly shifting to the side, scuttling off with the sound of paws scratching across the hardwood of the hallway and into whatever room he stuck his nose into. Gravity doesn’t quite line up in Keito’s favor, and it pulls him into a face-plant, to which he picks himself with haste, scuttling to get up and chase after the dog who’d left his trail in muddy paw prints. Ah, a lecture was just about bubbling in his throat, but would a dog even understand?

The trail leads into the bedroom — what a surprise, it was his favorite spot in the entire place — where Keito finds the dog sitting on top of the giant teddy bear Eichi had brought from the Tenshouin household, claiming to appreciate and need its ‘sentimental value’.

Well, that ‘value’ was currently being dirtied.

Keito adjusts his glasses, foot placement carefully calculated and drawn out as he begins approaching the dog (he was never this flighty when around Eichi — it seemed as if he only played these type of tricks around Keito, and he can’t help but really feel as if he was _truly_ Eichi’s choice of dog), cautiously approaching him with the sleeves of his sweater (whether or not it was an atrociously-colored one is up to the eyes of the beholder) now rolled up in preparation for any moves.

“Ferdinand _the Second_ — don’t move and cooperate. Just let me pick you up and bring you to the bathroom. Trust me, this is for the good of not only me but you, so if you’ll please — ”

Ferdinand barks, and he hears Eichi yell in the background, which makes him turn around to check. Ah, the sight he was was truly _something_! There’s the sound of wet paws flopping down the hallway, and he can only guess — oh, he can only guess, and just a few seconds later, Princess comes into the bedroom with half of her body soaking wet, jumping onto their bed with practiced ease and padding about, tongue out as if she’s found joy in the very face Keito makes, a face of exasperation as his very soul leaves his body.

“Princess — oh, they’ve both ended up here.” Eichi pokes his head into the room before walking in, observing the scene with a nod and positioning himself to stand next to Keito, who may as well be dead at this point. His blue eyes settle on Ferdinand sitting properly on one of the giant teddy bear’s legs, and he shakes his head with a smile.

“So he ends up making a bed out of his namesake’s leg — how’s he holding up, that Ferdinand the First? I’m sure he’s comfortable for you. Keito, hey…oh, you’re frozen stiff.”

* * *

It took a while to get the dogs into the bath (they hadn’t been this troublesome before, so this had become quite the long day), but when they finally settled into the bath tub filled with warm water and bubbles, both Keito and Eichi sighed in relief, sitting at the edge of the tub with their feet submerged in the somewhat calming water. They watched as Princess tries to eat a bubble and as Ferdinand the Second paces back and forth, marveling at the rather luxurious bath (courtesy of Eichi, which he’ll surely use to gain their favors later on).

“Well, I think they can clean themselves, right, Keito?”

They sit closely together without saying much about it; the close proximity was something they were used to by now, the already few centimeters of distance having been closed when they got together, when they moved into this place together, when they decided that they wanted to get dogs and start some sort of small family. It was a long time coming, and although doing things such as bathing dogs was certainly tiring, it was also rewarding, irreplaceable in the depths of their memories and hearts.

“It’s gotten pretty late, hasn’t it…” Keito checks the watch on his wrist, and he sighs, to which Princess looks up for a bit before playing in the water again, splashing about and getting their rolled-up pants wet. “It’s late, and the bed — no, the bedroom — is still pretty dirty. We’ll have to do clean _that_ tomorrow, Eichi.”

“I knew you’d say that.” Eichi laughs through his smile, and he stretches out his hand to pet Ferdinand for a bit before pulling back. “In the meantime, we can go back to when we first moved in together, back to when we slept on the couch, though it has _some_ mud on it that we can clean off easily.”

“Saying it like that — ” Keito stops, clearing his throat and staring at the dogs rather than Eichi. “Anyway, we can’t just go to sleep once they’re done. We still have to dry them up, especially Princess. She has a lot of fur, and we need to pay special attention to that.”

“Spoiling her as always, Keito — she truly is your dog.”

“And Ferdinand is yours — he won’t listen to anything I say, which is _exactly_ what you do on a daily basis.”

Though the difference was only five centimeters, Eichi lets the all-too tired Keito lean on his shoulder, and his free hand finds itself planted on the top of Keito’s head, digging his fingers deep into green hair and patting the boy’s head in a gentle yet exhilarating manner, to which Keito could only let it happen, because while he felt a slight twinge of embarrassment, that feeling wasn’t _bad_. It was a familiar feeling, a feeling that made him feel the most at home — and it was the same for the blonde, it was the same for the both of them, that feeling ‘at home’ had and always will mean being by each other’s side.

“Fufu, you worked hard today, too. Good job…and thank you for everything.”

“Hm. I guess I should…no, this is a sentiment that’s never changed since we met, so these are words that I’ve wanted to say since then. Thanks for everything, too.”

“You know, the way you are now…you’re kind of cute, Keito.”

“Don’t ruin it, Eichi.”


End file.
